Blue Star's Taste Of Nostalgia

NEWPORT NEWS — "There's no other place like this, this side of Atlantic City."

That is the considered opinion of John Cowan of Newport News, as he sits with his morning coffee at the counter of the Blue Star Diner.

Cowan's been taking his morning coffee at the Blue Star ever since it opened for business at its Warwick Boulevard location, just below Hilton Village. That adds up to a lot of coffee; the diner's been here since 1963, an enduring local landmark in a often-changing cityscape.

Step inside and you could almost persuade yourself it's still 1963. The stainless steel and turquoise Formica decor, the jukebox selectors perched on the long counter (heavy on the country music), the distinctive circa-1960 bowl-shaped overhead lights, the traditional diner-style table settings - extra-thick off-white cups and plates, cylindrical glass sugar and salt dispensers with metal screw-on tops - mark this as a reminder of the days before the Golden Arches ruled the roadside.

As for the exterior, it looks just like it did in the old postcard that owner Fannie Blentson displays, showing the Blue Star's first home in the Shenandoah Valley. She and her husband, Angelo, bought the diner new for $50,000 and had it set up in the town of Woodstock (these old diners were built at a factory and trucked, in two sections, to their eventual site). But the building of Interstate 81 diverted traffic away and frequent snows killed business in the winter, so they looked for greener pastures. After two years the couple moved their diner to Newport News, where Angelo's family was already in the restaurant business.

The only big difference in the postcard picture is the flower bed out front. "We couldn't take the flowers with us," Fannie sighs, "and I worked so hard on them."

Cowan's observation is probably true - these old-style diners were mainly a Northern phenomenon. But the Blue Star has found its niche in Newport News by attracting a string of devoted regular customers. These regulars, like Cowan and like J.W. Nelms Jr., perched on the adjoining stool, keep coming back for good coffee and reliable food at reasonable prices.

Nelms, in fact, says he drives here regularly from his home in Suffolk, just to breakfast at the Blue Star. "When I eat breakfast anywhere else, I don't enjoy it," he insists. He favors the hash browns, which Mrs. Blentson points out are made from "fresh potatoes. Never use frozen."

Another attraction is the friendly greeting they can expect from Linda the waitress as they sit down at the counter or booth. (Chances are very good that your waitress will be named Linda; there are currently four Lindas working at the diner.)

On this particular morning, Linda Jablonski is taking orders, dishing out the traditional diner breakfast fare of eggs, ham, bacon, toast and choice of grits or hash browns, and regularly checking to see if you wouldn't like another cup of that coffee. She and a co-worker bustle back and forth in the narrow space between the dining counter and the parallel array of cookery - steam table, deep fryer, grill, sandwich board, coffee brewer, soda and milk dispensers - behind them.

Jablonski is something of a old-timer at the diner herself; she began working there in her teens and now has been there 13 years. The pace is hectic, but she likes her job; her 6 a.m.-2 p.m. shift gets her home when her child returns from school, and Fannie Blentson "is a great boss."

The employees agree that the boss works harder than anybody, keeping things humming at the eatery that's open seven days a week, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. "It's been my entire life," Fannie says. What happens when the day comes, maybe in a few years, when she decides to let go and retire? There's a chance the place may stay in the family; her son, Pete, has also gone into the restaurant business, as partner in a new hot-dog place in the Bayberry Shopping Center on J. Clyde Morris Boulevard. He says he hasn't thought about it yet, but he just might take over the old diner, too, when the time comes.

"For atmosphere, it's not really a class place," Angelo was once quoted as saying. Even so, the Blue Star Diner has kept its distinctive atmosphere in an age of plastic. And in this neck of the woods, it's in a class by itself.